As for the second, your guess is as good as mine - the usual British coyness in celebrating home-grown achievement? Ignorance? Indifference? Probably a mixture of all three, actually - your own theories would be most welcome.

When the world's 50 best restaurants are announced every year there's the usual song and dance about the results. But what relevance do such lists have to your average restaurant-goer, who just wants something decent to eat without having to break the bank to do it (still nowhere near as easy as it should be, despite what we're told)? After all, without putting a specific savings plan in place to achieve it, most of us couldn't afford a meal at any of the restaurants on the list, and even if we could, the idea of spending £100-plus a head on tea may leave a rather nasty taste in the mouth.

Well, hard as it may be to believe, what happens at the top of the cooking tree today will in time filter down to the bottom (though maybe not as far down as the local kebab shop, granted). And that helps take the food on all our plates up a notch, be that in the local bistro or pub, on the shop shelf or market stall - and even in the supermarket ready meal. Yes, really.

And possibly even harder to believe, not least because of the lack of fuss we made about it, is the fact that those five brilliant British restaurants mentioned above all came in the world's top 22, let alone the top 50.

So we thought we'd set the record straight by inviting their chefs to come up with a summer meal for Guardian Weekend's Summer Food & Drink Special, published on Saturday. For those of you who want a sneak preview, you'll find Michel Roux Jr's appetiser of chilli fried coconut prawns below. On Saturday, you'll find, among other recipes, Tong Chee Hwee's sha cha cod main course, and Heston Blumenthal's revival of a 17th-century favourite, quaking pudding.

Michel Roux's Chilli Coconut Fried Prawns

You can taste the tropics in this dish, which is perfect as an aperitif or starter. Try to use wild prawns, such as tigers from Madagascar, or ones that have been reared in an ecologically sound manner.

250g grated coconut

2 tbsp chilli flakes (or more to taste)

24 prawns shelled and deveined

200g corn flour

3 egg whites, lightly beaten

Vegetable oil, for deep-frying

Salt

Mix together the coconut and chilli. Dip the prawns in the corn flour, then into the egg whites and finally into the coconut/chilli mix. Shake off any excess, but make sure each one is well coated.

Deep-fry until golden brown, drain on kitchen paper, season with salt and serve piping hot.